The “grandest house in town!”
Boston has a special new events venue, which is ready to welcome back visitors, wedding parties and exhibitions after a year-long closure and an extensive restoration. By Glynis Fox.
New life has been breathed into Fydell House, which sits proudly next to Boston Museum in South Street. The project has seen the sympathetic restoration of the 300-year-old house, married carefully with modernisation.
Fydell House now stands proudly again in the heart of Boston’s cultural quarter, reflecting its former glory while cementing its place in the future and in the hearts of the town.
Major repairs have been carried out to the roof, which was covered with scaffolding for several weeks. In addition, there has been extensive electrical work done, new heating, a new kitchen, as well as redecoration inside and out, and much more.
House history
This amazing three-storey town house, originally built for wealthy merchants, was owned by the Fydell family for many years and was affectionately known as “the grandest house in town”. Indeed, that is definitely your first impression when you walk through the iron gates at its entrance.
The house is complemented by a beautiful lawned rear garden encased in yew and box topiary. This was restored in 2000 in keeping with the age of the house.
Features include an armillary sphere in tribute to Sir Joseph Banks, a regular visitor to the house and also a large white horse relief, which was rescued when the old White Horse Inn in West Street closed.
There is also a modern glass and steel memorial to Alan Champion, showing the glass bureaucracy being undermined by Alan’s steel persistency.
Events venue
Saved from demolition in the 1930s by Boston Preservation Trust, which still owns the property, it was home to adult education institution Pilgrim College for over 60 years. Since the College closed in 2003, the house has been a community venue, hosting talks, exhibitions, weddings and other events, and it is certain that there is much more to come. Alan Champion was a former warden of the town’s Pilgrim College for many years and he brought up his family in a flat on the top floor of the house.
Whilst the Boston Preservation Trust’s chair Martin Fairman and vice-chair Adam Cartwright have been overseeing every inch of the refit and following open events beforehand, Fydell fully reopened to the public in July.
Martin Fairman said: “We are delighted to be back in Fydell House, which I know means so much to our volunteers and the people of Boston.”
Vice-chair Adam Cartwright said the refurbishment of the house had been carried out using local businesses as far as possible and he and Mr Fairman had been helped by a much wider team of trustees, who had played a key part in getting the whole project through to completion.
“The £2.3m total cost of the project was not all restoration work, there’s also a range of activity work, fees, additional costs which we’ve incurred from being out of the building.
“The actual restoration was about £1.3m, and in addition to the roof, the chimneys were thoroughly repaired as well.
“There has been a huge amount of work, helped by our brilliant project manager Stephanie Hall-Stead. Along the way we have become pretty good at Queen Anne House decoration, selecting antiques, negotiating prices, planning, marketing and graphic design, community engagement, working with stakeholders, grappling with utility companies – the list just goes on!”
Fydell House events and marketing manager Staiva Rinkeviciule is eager to welcome visitors to the revamped property and can be contacted via email at Events@fydellhouse.org.uk
Photographs: Mick Fox
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